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Portland, Oregon – November 28, 2008. This December, one local bike retailer is shifting their holiday focus to help support an important holiday tradition – the 13th annual Community Cycling Center Holiday Bike Drive. November 28, 2008, through January 2, 2009, family-owned Bike Gallery is actively encouraging their customers to make a donation to local non-profit Community Cycling Center. During that time, Bike Gallery is inviting its customers to become a star on their Giving Tree by donating $5 or more to the Community Cycling Center (CCC). Anyone making a donation of $5 or more will receive a star to personalize with their name or a message. That star will go on a Giving Tree that is centrally located in the store. Your donation helps offset the costs of Holiday Bike Drive and other CCC programs. AND…for every star on the tree, Bike Gallery will donate $5 to the CCC!

Jay Graves, Bike Gallery owner and founding CCC board member states, “My dad taught me the importance of giving back to the community. That lesson has stuck with me and driven my involvement in numerous local non profits. I’m especially proud to be supporting the CCC this holiday season in their mission to get low-income kids on bikes. I can’t wait to see the Giving Trees in each of our stores covered with stars by the end of December. ”

The Community Cycling Center is a local non-profit organization with many programs that help build Portland’s cycling community. Their programs focus on serving low-income individuals – adults and children. Each December, the CCC’s Holiday Bike Drive touches hundreds of low-income children by providing them a new bike and helmet. As you know, a bicycle can start a child on the road to an active life, teach them self-sufficiency, and connect them to their community. Support at any level can help the CCC do their important work but:

» $25 pays for helmet, lock, and safety accessories; » $50 helps us give a child their first bicycle at the Holiday Bike Drive; » $100 covers the cost of a refurbished bike in an after-school Bike Club; » $250 teaches one child how to become a self-sufficient, safe bicyclist; » $500 fosters self-sufficiency by helping a low-income adult earn a bicycle.

To help create that holiday magic for a child in our community and to become a star on Bike Gallery’s Giving Tree, visit one of Bike Gallery’s six retail locations in the Metro area and ask for a donation envelope. For more information visit www.bikegallery.com/holidaybikedrive.php.